


i'm fighting sleep right now (don't matter why or how)

by imgoingtocrash



Category: Scorpion (TV 2014)
Genre: Drabble, F/M, Fluff, It's all v PG since Ralph is there trust me, One Shot, Post White Out, Sleeping Together, post 2x13
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-07
Updated: 2016-01-07
Packaged: 2018-05-12 07:20:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5657569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imgoingtocrash/pseuds/imgoingtocrash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"She grabs the sleeping bag from his hand and throws it next to hers, promptly ending any other thoughts about leaving for the night.</p>
<p>“Welcome to Camp Dineen.” She says with a small grin, her voice slightly dry from sleep. He smiles back in return, a reflex that he can never seem to break around her."</p>
<p>Walter bunking with Sylvester for the night doesn't work out so well. Luckily there's space elsewhere.</p>
            </blockquote>





	i'm fighting sleep right now (don't matter why or how)

**Author's Note:**

> I generally don’t do a lot of post-episode fics, but for some reason I fell in love with this drabble idea and couldn’t let go. Title from Replace Me by Andrew Belle.
> 
> I'm hoping to work on my longer length, possibly AU stuff for this fandom, but writing this the night before I started classes again was a terrible idea as it is, so we'll see what I have time for. Enjoy!

Walter wakes up to the sound of Sylvester snoring. Loudly.

More accurately, he drifted off for all of about 20 minutes before he heard Sly take up his side of the tent and begin snoring.

He can’t be sure exactly how long he lies there pretending that his mind will shut off if he just sits through it, but when he checks his watch he estimates that it’s been about an hour. _“An hour too long,”_ he thinks to himself, slowly unzipping the tent and crawling out as slowly and quietly as he can manage, carefully extracting his sleeping bag as well.

He starts towards the door to the roof, figuring he’ll sleep in his bed and quietly agree with Cabe in the morning that Sly’s snoring is disturbing and inefficient to getting a full night’s rest. He briefly wonders how Megan dealt with Sylvester all those times he stayed with her overnight in the hospital, and it’s enough of a distraction that he kicks his sock-clad foot into one of the empty snow buckets.

He curses softly, but it’s enough of a noise that Ralph, either a light sleeper or not asleep yet despite the hour, unzips the tent he’s sharing with Paige and calls out to him in a whisper, “Walter?”

“Yeah, Ralph, it’s me.” He says, lightly cradling the stubbed toe and rubbing it with his hand in an attempt to alleviate the pain.

“What’re you doing?”

He tilts his head slightly to the tent in which Sylvester is still snoring away, but only says “Couldn’t really get to sleep,” before attempting to usher Ralph back to his tent. “I’ll just go to my bed. It would be silly not to use it, considering it’s the only actual mattress available, so.”

Ralph nods in response, but quickly pads over to Walter and grabs his hand instead of retreating back to the tent alone. “There’s plenty of room in our tent. Much faster than going all the way back to your loft.”

Walter allows Ralph to drag him back to the tent, but stops him before he crawls back through. “Ask your mom if it’s alright first.”

Ralph gives him a questioning gaze, as if asking why she wouldn’t think it was alright, but he concedes, letting go of Walter and quietly crawling back into the tent to wake Paige with a few short whispers. He hears a soft grunt and a few disconnected assents that she’s listening before Ralph pokes his head back out and gives him a thumbs up and a grin.

Walter shakes his head lightly and chuckles, but follows Ralph into the tent. Paige is half awake, the top of her sleeping bag unzipped as she helps Ralph scoot over so they can make space. Ralph may have slightly exaggerated when describing that the tent had “plenty of room,” but Paige seems to catch Walter's calculating gaze just as he’s considering turning back. She grabs the sleeping bag from his hand and throws it next to hers, promptly ending any other thoughts about leaving for the night.

“Welcome to Camp Dineen.” She says with a small grin, her voice slightly dry from sleep. He smiles back in return, a reflex that he can never seem to break around her.

He crawls into the sleeping bag and is strangely more comfortable, even though he logically knows that the solid rooftop under him is no softer here than it was less than 5 feet away.

It doesn’t take long before the sounds of Paige and Ralph’s quiet breathing and warmth coax him into a deep sleep of his own.

 

xx

 

Morning comes slowly, in waves.

He sees a hint of the sun through the fabric of the tent before he closes his eyes to banish it.

He vaguely hears Toby and Happy playfully squabbling in the tent next to them.

He hears the tight pops and cracks of Cabe stretching when a cell phone rings somewhere in the distance.

He hears Ralph exit his own sleeping bag before leaving their tent himself.

When he fully wakes, it’s to a warmth curled up against his side.

He knows it’s Paige, not just because of where they slept the night before, but because of the way her hair smells tickling his nose. His arm is lightly around her middle over the material of the sleeping bag, and her back is tightly curled against his chest.

(If he stays there a few minutes longer before extracting himself from her and going to see about getting everyone breakfast, it’s not like anyone else has to know.)


End file.
